Shih & Inkelas (2016): Morphologically-conditioned tonotactics in multilevel Maximum Entropy grammar

Morphologically-conditioned tonotactics in multilevel Maximum Entropy grammar
Stephanie ShihSharon Inkelas
March 2016
direct link: http://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/002932

This paper presents a novel approach to probabilistic morphologically-conditioned tonotactics, featuring a case study of Mende, in which tonotactics vary by lexical category. This variation in surface tone patterns is modeled via indexed weight adjustments (i.e., varying slopes) for each constraint in a Maximum Entropy Harmonic Grammar, quantifying the degree to which each lexical class follows basic tonotactic principles in a common base grammar. Approaching morphologically-conditioned phonotactics as indexed weight adjustments of a base grammar offers a solution to the existing stalemate between single grammar (e.g., indexed constraints) and multiple grammar (e.g., Stratal OT; cophonologies) models of lexically-sensitive phonological patterns.

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Reference: lingbuzz/002932
(please use that when you cite this article, unless you want to cite the full url: http://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/002932)
Published in: Proceedings of the Annual Meetings on Phonology 2015
keywords: tone, phonotactics, maximum entropy, harmonic grammar, indexed constraints, cophonology theory, lexicon, morphophonology, mende, phonology